The Port of Seattle Commission today approved a 2017 budget with $1.4 billion in expenditures designed to meet the region’s demand for Port services (air and sea).

According to the Port of Seattle, the budget also aims to return the benefits of growth back to the community through significant environmental and economic development initiatives, particularly those focused on reducing carbon emissions, improving quality of life in communities near the airport, and connecting more people to Port-related careers.

The Port forecasts a record 48 million passengers will fly through Sea-Tac Airport in 2017. Current projections indicate passenger volume will exceed 9 percent annual growth in 2016, vaulting Sea-Tac into the top 10 airports in the nation and ahead of the next three busiest airports (Houston, Phoenix, and Miami). An 8.8 percent increase in cruise passengers is also expected in 2017, which would set a record of more than one million passengers.

The Commission authorized more than $45 million in environmental initiatives and projects aimed at making the Port of Seattle the greenest and most energy efficient port in North America: encouraging more people to use light-rail to get to and from the airport, increasing the number of electric vehicle charging stations at Sea-Tac, offering more sound insulation to neighbors around the airport, protecting water quality through expanded storm water management, creating a $1 million fund to implement the Energy and Sustainability Committee policy directives, and designating another $1 million for community ecological projects in SeaTac, Burien and Des Moines.